Daytime Nappers Die Young

A 13-year study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology has revealed that if you take naps during the day, your life is going to be short. Add it to the list.

The report, which was performed by researchers at Cambridge University, studied the habits of over 16,000 men and women in Britain and found that those who take naps during the day are almost a third more likely to die before they turn 65.

According to the report,

Among the 16,374 men and women who answered questions on napping habits between 1998 and 2000, a total of 3,251 died during the 13-year follow-up.

The biggest risks come from respiratory problems that napping is likely to induce (or as Stanford University calls them, SRBDs), and nappers who slept during the day for more than an hour had more than double the chance of dying from a respiratory illness than those who didn't nap at all.

But confusion remains: many pose that dormant or undiscovered illnesses actually inspire people to take daytime naps, not the other way around. The study itself admits to this:

In the United Kingdom, daytime napping is not part of the cultural norm, and in the absence of obvious disruptions in nighttime sleep patterns, it remains plausible that napping might be an early sign of system disregulation and a marker of future health problems.

The moral: take a nap if you're tired. But then wake up and go to the doctor.